World Cup in their sight

Goal shooter Alanna Smith eyes the ring against Malaysia in Cook Islands’ opening match of the Nations Cup tournament in Singapore last year. She is a member of the national team to World Cup qualifiers in Auckland next week. 18041028

The Cook Islands contingent of the national netball squad that will feature at the World Cup qualifiers in Auckland next week, will leave Rarotonga today.

Alanna Smith, Anania Piri, Daimzel Rongokea, Luciana Nicholas and Marjorie Toru will all depart for New Zealand at 2.30pm this afternoon for the five-day tournament that begins April 17.

The 2018 Oceania Qualifiers Tournament will be played in the Phyllis Latour Doyle High Wire Trust Arena, 159 Dominion Road, Papakura, Auckland.

In the tournament, the Black Pearls will face Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, and will only need to come in second place to qualify for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

Papua New Guinea will be their first opponent next Tuesday 7pm (Monday 9pm CI time), who are one spot behind the Cook Islands in the international rankings at 18.

Thursday 7pm (Wednesday 9pm CI time) will be the biggest test for the Black Pearls, as they face Fiji, the highest-ranked Pacific Island team at 12.

On Friday at 5pm (Thursday 7pm CI time), the team will face Samoa, ranked 15, before playing Tonga on midday Saturday (Friday 2pm CI time).